Systems and methods for electronically tracking client data

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods electronically tag received data associated with an entity with an electronic tag including an identifier uniquely associated with the entity. The system may electronically store the received data such that the received data is identifiable via the electronic tag. Then, when a request for deletion of all the entity’s data is made by the particular entity, it is fulfilled with much less effort, namely by searching for elements with that entity’s tag. Whenever that data is copied, transformed, or derivative data is made, the system copies the electronic tag with it. Thus, even when the data is copied or modified, it can be more efficiently identified as being associated with the particular entity. In some embodiments, the tagging includes electronically recording an association of the electronic tag with the received data as a transaction on a blockchain, the transaction on the blockchain being associated with the electronic tag and with the received data.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field relates to computer networks, and particularly tonetworked automated systems for electronically tracking client data.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present description gives instances of computer systems, devices andstorage media that may store programs and methods. Embodiments of thesystem may electronically tag received data associated with an entitywith an electronic tag including an identifier uniquely associated withthe entity. The system may electronically store the received data suchthat the received data is identifiable via the electronic tag. Then,when a request for deletion is made by the particular entity, it isfulfilled with much less effort, namely by searching for elements withthat entity’s tag. Whenever that data is copied, transformed, orderivative data is made, the system copies the electronic tag with it.Thus, even when the data is copied or modified, it can be moreefficiently identified as being associated with the particular entity.

Therefore, the systems and methods described herein for electronicallytracking client data improve the functioning of computer or otherhardware, such as by reducing the processing, storage, and/or datatransmission resources needed to perform various tasks, includingautomatically identifying and electronically deleting all client data,thereby enabling the tasks to be performed by less capable, capacious,and/or expensive hardware devices, enabling the tasks to be performedwith less latency and/or preserving more of the conserved resources foruse in performing other tasks or additional instances of the same task.

As shown above and in more detail throughout the present disclosure, thepresent disclosure provides technical improvements in computer networksand existing computerized systems to facilitate availability, accuracyand efficiency of computing resources to perform client data tracking.

These and other features and advantages of the claimed invention willbecome more readily apparent in view of the embodiments described andillustrated in this specification, namely in this written specificationand the associated drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scalerelative to each other. Like reference numerals designate correspondingparts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing sample aspects of embodiments of the presentdisclosure that are improvements in automated computerized systems.

FIG. 2 is a diagram that repeats some of the digital main rules of FIG.1 in more detail, and juxtaposes them with a flowchart portion for asample method of how it may be recognized that conditions of a certaindigital main rule can be met for its consequent to be applied, allaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure, and is animprovement in automated computerized systems.

FIG. 3A is a flowchart for illustrating a sample method according toembodiments of the present disclosure that is an improvement inautomated computerized systems.

FIG. 3B is a flowchart for illustrating a sample method for performingan action regarding all data stored by an online software platform (OSP)that is tagged with an electronic tag uniquely associated with an entityaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure, and is animprovement in automated computerized systems.

FIG. 3C is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of tagging andstoring a piece of personal information associated with an entityaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure, and is animprovement in automated computerized systems.

FIG. 3D is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of how a tagfollows tagged personal information associated with a particular entitywhen copied into another location, such as into a document, according toembodiments of the present disclosure, and is an improvement inautomated computerized systems.

FIG. 3E is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of how all taggedpersonal information associated with a particular entity may be foundand deleted in response to a request, according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, and is an improvement in automated computerizedsystems.

FIG. 3F is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of how particulartagged personal information associated with a particular entity may befound and modified in response to a request, according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure, and is an improvement in automated computerizedsystems.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing additional components of samplecomputer systems according to embodiments of the present disclosure, andis an improvement in automated computerized systems.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of sample aspects for describing operationalexamples and use cases of embodiments of the present disclosure that areimprovements in automated computerized systems.

FIG. 6 is a sample view of a User Interface (UI) for an OSP in which atax service customer may request deletion of all their data from the OSPin a use case of an embodiment according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, and is an improvement in automated computerizedsystems.

FIG. 7 is a sample view of a UI for the OSP in which a confirmation isdisplayed indicating deletion of all the tax service customer’s datafrom the OSP that has been performed in a use case of an embodimentaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure, and is animprovement in automated computerized systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program products thatembody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of variousembodiments of the inventive subject matter. It will be evident,however, that embodiments of the inventive subject matter may bepracticed without these specific details. In general, well-knownstructures and methods associated with underlying technology have notbeen shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuringdescriptions of the preferred embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing sample aspects of embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In particular, in an example embodiment, an online softwareplatform (OSP) determines, via the service engine 183, a resource basedon applying digital rules 170 to a dataset 135 of a client, such asprimary entity 193. The OSP 198 may use data received via communicationnetwork 188 from a variety of sources, such as, for example, primaryentity 193, secondary entity 196 and intermediary entity 160, and otherentities and systems. In many instances, the primary entity 193 mayprovide certain data (e.g., personal, confidential or sensitiveinformation) that comprises or is part of the dataset 135 which theprimary entity 193 at some point may request the OSP 198 to delete ormodify (e.g., via request 184). In response to the electronic request todelete or modify all of such data associated with or provided by primaryentity 193, in various embodiments, the OSP 198 may electronically tracksuch data via electronically tagging such data it receives, and causingthat tag to automatically follow such data whenever it is electronicallycopied or modified within the OSP 18, as is explained in further detailherein.

A thick line 115 separates this diagram, although not completely orrigorously, into a top portion and a bottom portion. Above the line 115the emphasis is mostly on entities, components, their relationships, andtheir interactions, while below the emphasis is mostly processing ofdata that takes place often within one or more of the components abovethe line 115.

Above the line 115, a sample computer system 195 according toembodiments is shown. The computer system 195 has one or more processors194 and a memory 130. The memory 130 stores programs 131 and data 138.The one or more processors 194 and the memory 130 of the computer system195 thus implement a service engine 183. Additional implementationdetails for the computer system 195 are given later in this document.

The computer system 195 can be located in “the cloud.” In fact, thecomputer system 195 may optionally be implemented as part of an OSP 198.The OSP 198 can be configured to perform one or more predefinedservices, for example, via operations of the service engine 183. Suchservices can be searches, determinations, computations, verifications,notifications, the transmission of specialized information, includingdata that effectuates payments or remits resources, data representingprediction values (e.g., based on the data that effectuates payments orremits resources), the generation and transmission of documents, theonline accessing other systems to effect registrations, and so on,including what is described in this document. Such services can beprovided as a Software as a Service (SaaS).

A user 192 may be standalone. The user 192 may use a computer system 190that has a screen 191, on which User Interfaces (UIs) may be shown.Additional sample implementation details for the computer system 190 aregiven later in this document. In embodiments, the user 192 and thecomputer system 190 are considered part of a primary entity 193, whichcan be referred to also merely as entity. In such instances, the user192 can be an agent of the entity 193, and even within a physical siteof the entity 193, although that is not necessary. In embodiments, thecomputer system 190 or other device of the user 192 or the entity 193are client devices for the computer system 195.

The computer system 190 may access the computer system 195 via acommunication network 188, such as the internet. In particular, theentities and associated systems of FIG. 1 may communicate via physicaland logical channels of the communication network 188. For example,information may be communicated as data using the Internet Protocol (IP)suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet or otherpacket-switched network, which may be included as part of thecommunication network 188. The communication network 188 may includemany different types of computer networks and communication mediaincluding those utilized by various different physical and logicalchannels of communication, now known or later developed. Non-limitingmedia and communication channel examples include one or more, or anyoperable combination of: fiber optic systems, satellite systems, cablesystems, microwave systems, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”) systems,frame relay systems, radio frequency (“RF”) systems, telephone systems,cellular systems, other wireless systems, and the Internet. In variousembodiments the communication network 188 can be or include any type ofnetwork, such as a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a private or public wireless cellularnetwork (e.g., a fifth generation (5G) wireless network) or theinternet.

Downloading or uploading may be permitted from one of these two computersystems to the other, and so on. Such accessing can be performed, forinstance, with manually uploading files, like spreadsheet files, etc.Such accessing can also be performed automatically as shown in theexample of FIG. 1 . The computer system 190 and the computer system 195may exchange requests and responses with each other. Such can beimplemented with a number of architectures.

In one such architecture, a device remote to the service engine 183,such as computer system 190, may have a certain application (not shown)and a connector (not shown) that is a plugin that sits on top of thatcertain application. The connector may be able to fetch from the remotedevice the details required for the service desired from the OSP 198,form an object or payload 134, and then send or push a request 184 thatcarries the payload 134 to the service engine 183 via a service call.The service engine 183 may receive the request 184 with the payload 134.The service engine 183 may then apply digital rules 170 to the payload134 to determine a requested resource 179 and/or prediction value 149,form a payload 137 that is an aspect of the resource 179 and/orprediction value 149, and then push, send, or otherwise cause to betransmitted a response 187 that carries the payload 137 to theconnector. The connector reads the response 187, and forwards thepayload 137 to the certain application.

In an alternative such architecture, a device remote to the serviceengine 183, such as computer system 190, may have a particularapplication (not shown). In addition, the computer system 195 mayimplement a REST (Representational State Transfer) API (ApplicationProgramming Interface) (not shown). REST or RESTful API design isdesigned to take advantage of existing protocols. While REST can be usedover nearly any protocol, it usually takes advantage of HTTP (Hyper TextTransfer Protocol) when used for Web APIs. This alternative architectureenables the primary entity 193 to directly consume a REST API from theirparticular application, without using a connector. The particularapplication of the remote device may be able to fetch internally fromthe remote device the details required for the service desired from theOSP 198, and thus send or push the request 184 to the REST API. In turn,the REST API talks in background to the service engine 183. Again, theservice engine 183 determines the requested resource 179, and sends anaspect of it back to the REST API. In turn, the REST API sends theresponse 187 that has the payload 137 to the particular application.

Moreover, in some embodiments, data from the computer system 190 and/orfrom the computer system 195 may be stored in an Online ProcessingFacility (OPF) 189 that can run software applications, performoperations, and so on. In such embodiments, requests and responses maybe exchanged with the OPF 189, downloading or uploading may involve theOPF 189, and so on. In such embodiments, the computer system 190 and anydevices of the OPF 189 can be considered to be remote devices, at leastfrom the perspective of the computer system 195.

In some instances, the user 192 or the primary entity 193 may haveinstances of relationships with secondary entities. Only one suchsecondary entity 196 is shown. However, additional secondary entitiesmay be present in various other embodiments. In this example, theprimary entity 193 has a relationship instance 197 with the secondaryentity 196 via an intermediary entity 160 using communication 162between the intermediary entity 160 and the secondary entity 196. Forexample, the communication 162 between the intermediary entity 160 andthe secondary entity 196 may be made over network 188.

In some instances, the user 192, the primary entity 193 and/or theintermediary entity 160 may have data about one or more secondaryentities, for example via relationship instances of the user 192 orprimary entity with the secondary entity 196. Also, the intermediaryentity 160 and/or secondary entity 196 may have data about the primaryentity 193, for example via relationship instances of the user 192 orprimary entity 193 with the intermediary entity 160 and/or secondaryentity 196. The primary entity 193, the intermediary entity 160, and/orthe secondary entity 196 may be referred to as simply entities. One ofthese entities may have one or more attributes. Such an attribute ofsuch an entity may be any one of its name, type of entity, a physical orgeographical location such as an address, a contact information element,an affiliation, a characterization of another entity, a characterizationby another entity, an association or relationship with another entity(general or specific instances), an asset of the entity, a declarationby or on behalf of the entity, and so on.

In embodiments, the computer system 195 receives one or more datasets. Asample received dataset 135 is shown below the line 115. The dataset 135may be received by the computer system 195 in a number of ways. In someembodiments, one or more requests may be received by the computer system195 via a network. In this example, a request 184 is received by thecomputer system 195 via the network 188. The request 184 has beentransmitted by the remote computer system 190. The received one or morerequests can carry payloads. In this example, the request 184 carries apayload 134. In such embodiments, the one or more payloads may be parsedby the computer system 195 to extract the dataset. In this example, thepayload 134 can be parsed by the computer system 195 to extract thedataset 135. In this example the single payload 134 encodes the entiredataset 135, but that is not required. In fact, a dataset can bereceived from the payloads of multiple requests. In such cases, a singlepayload may encode only a portion of the dataset. And, of course, thepayload of a single request may encode multiple datasets. Additionalcomputers may be involved with the network 188, some beyond the controlof the user 192 or OSP 198, and some within such control.

The dataset 135 has values that can be numerical, alphanumeric, Boolean,and so on, as needed for what the values characterize. For example, anidentity value ID may indicate an identity of the dataset 135, so as todifferentiate it from other such datasets. At least one of the values ofthe dataset 135 may characterize an attribute of a certain one of theentities 193 and 196, and/or the intermediary entity 160 as indicated byarrows 199. (It should be noted that the arrows 199 describe acorrespondence, but not the journey of data in becoming the receiveddataset 135.) For instance, a value D1 may be the name of the certainentity, a value D2 may be for relevant data of the entity, and so on.Plus, an optional value B1 may be a numerical base value for an aspectof the dataset, and so on. The aspect of the dataset may be the aspectof the value that characterizes the attribute, an aspect of the reasonthat the dataset was created in the first place, an indication ofwhether the relationship instance 197 with the secondary entity 196 isvia the intermediary entity 160, an indication of whether a resourceassociated with the relationship instance 197 is received via theintermediary entity 160, an indication of an identity or othercharacteristic of the intermediary entity 160, and so on. The dataset135 may further have additional such values, as indicated by thehorizontal dot-dot-dot to the right of the dataset 135. In someembodiments, each dataset, such as dataset 135 corresponds to onerelationship instance. In some embodiments, the dataset 135 maycorrespond to a plurality of relationship instances and include suchrespective values for each respective relationship instance of theplurality of relationship instances. In some embodiments, the dataset135 has values that characterize attributes of each of the primaryentity 193, the secondary entity 196 and the intermediary entity 160,but that is not required. In some embodiments, the primary entity 193may be the intermediary entity 160 or secondary entity 196 andcommunications described herein such as the request 184 and response 187may be additionally or instead between the intermediary entity 160 orsecondary entity 196 and the computer system 195.

In embodiments, stored digital rules 170 may be accessed by the computersystem 195. These rules 170 are digital in that they are implemented foruse by software. For example, these rules 170 may be implemented withinprograms 131 and data 138. The data portion of these rules 170 mayalternately be implemented in memories in other places, which can beaccessed via the network 188. These rules 170 may be accessed responsiveto receiving a dataset, such as the dataset 135.

The digital rules 170 may include main rules, which can thus be accessedby the computer system 195. In this example, three sample digital mainrules are shown explicitly, namely M_RULE5 175, M_RULE6 176, and M_RULE7177. In this example, the digital rules 170 also include digitalprecedence rules P_RULE2 172 and P_RULE3 173, which can thus be furtheraccessed by the computer system 195. The digital rules 170 may includeadditional rules and types of rules, as suggested by the verticaldot-dot-dots.

In embodiments, a certain one of the digital main rules may beidentified from among the accessed stored rules by the computer system195. In particular, values of the dataset 135 can be tested, accordingto arrows 171, against logical conditions of the digital main rules, asdescribed later in this document. In this example, the certain main ruleM_RULE6 176 is thus identified, which is indicated also by the beginningof an arrow 178 that is described in more detail later in this document.Identifying may be performed in a number of ways, and depending on howthe digital main rules are implemented. An example is now described.

Referring now also to FIG. 2 , some of the digital main rules of digitalrules 170 are repeated from FIG. 1 in more detail. In addition,according to an arrow 270, these digital main rules are shown juxtaposedwith a flowchart portion 200. In embodiments, some of the digital mainrules can be expressed in the form of a logical “if-then” statement,such as: “if P then Q”. In such statements, the “if” part, representedby the “P”, is called the condition, and the “then” part, represented bythe “Q”, is called the consequent. Therefore, at least some of thedigital main rules include respective conditions and respectiveconsequents associated with the respective conditions, respectively.And, for a certain digital main rule, if its certain condition P is met,then its certain consequent Q is what happens or becomes applied. One ormore of the digital rules 170 may have more than one conditions P thatboth must be met, and so on. And some of these digital rules 170 may besearched for, and grouped, according first to one of the conditions, andthen the other. In this example, the digital main rules M_RULE5 175,M_RULE6 176, and M_RULE7 177 of FIG. 1 , include respective conditionsCN5, CN6, CN7, and respective consequents CT5, CT6, CT7 associated withthe respective conditions CN5, CN6, CN7, respectively.

In embodiments, therefore, identifying is performed by recognizing, bythe computer system 195, that a certain condition of a certain one ofthe accessed digital main rules is met by one or more of the values ofthe dataset. An example of the operations of recognizing that acondition is met and thus identifying an applicable rule is shown byflowchart portion 200 of FIG. 2 . According to successive decisiondiamonds 285, 286, 287, it is determined whether or not conditions CN5,CN6, CN7 are met by at least one of the values of the dataset,respectively. If the answer is NO, then execution may proceed to thenext diamond. If the answer is YES then, according to operations 295,296, 297, it is further determined that the respective consequents CT5,CT6, CT7 are to be applied, and then execution may proceed to the nextdiamond in the flowchart portion. A consequent that is to be appliedcould be, for example, flagged as TRUE.

From what was mentioned in connection with FIG. 1 , the certain M_RULE6176 was thus identified. With reference to FIG. 2 , the identificationmay have happened at operation 286 of the flowchart portion 200, atwhich time it was recognized that condition CN6 was met by a value ofthe dataset 135. This made: the condition CN6 be the certain condition,the digital main rule M_RULE6 176 be the certain digital main rule, andthe consequent CT6 be the certain consequent of the certain digital mainrule M_RULE6 176. And the certain consequent CT6 is associated with thecertain condition CN6, since both are included by the certain digitalmain rule 176. Therefore, according to operation 296, consequent CT6 iswhat happens or becomes applied, as described below.

A number of examples are possible for how to recognize that a certaincondition of a certain digital rule is met by at least one of the valuesof the dataset. For instance, the certain condition could define aboundary of a region that is within a space. The region could begeometric, and be within a larger space and may include politicalboundaries. For example, the region could be geographic, within thespace of a city, a county, a state, a country, a continent or the earth.The boundary of the region could be defined in terms of numbersaccording to a coordinate system within the space. In the example ofgeography, the boundary could be defined in terms of groups of longitudeand latitude coordinates. In such embodiments, the certain conditioncould be met responsive to the characterized attribute of the datasetbeing in the space and within the boundary of the region instead ofoutside the boundary. For instance, the attribute could be a location ofthe entity, and the one or more values of the dataset 135 thatcharacterize the location could be one or more numbers or an address, orlongitude and latitude. The condition can be met depending on how theone or more values compare with the boundary. For example, thecomparison may reveal that the location is in the region instead ofoutside the region. The comparison can be made by rendering thecharacterized attribute in units comparable to those of the boundary.For example, the characterized attribute could be an address that isrendered into longitude and latitude coordinates, and so on.

The above embodiments are only examples, and not limiting. For instance,the example of FIG. 2 suggests that there is a one-to-one correspondenceof the conditions with the associated consequents, but that is notnecessary. In fact, a single consequent may be associated with two ormore conditions, and two or more consequents may be associated with asingle condition. Of course, all such can be shown as additional rules,with groups of them having the same condition or consequent.

For another instance, once it is determined that a consequent is to beapplied, execution may even exit the flowchart portion 200. Or, asshown, it may be determined that more than one of the digital main rulesis to be applied. In particular, operation 286 may give the answer YESsuch that consequent CT6 is to be applied, and operation 287 may alsogive the answer YES such that consequent CT7 is to be applied.

Where more than one of the digital main rules are found that could beapplied, there are additional possibilities. For instance, the computersystem 195 of FIG. 1 may further access at least one stored digitalprecedence rule, such as P_RULE2 172 or P_RULE3 173. Accordingly, thecertain digital main rule may be thus identified also from the digitalprecedence rule. In particular, the digital precedence rule may decidewhich one or more of the digital main rules is to be applied. Tocontinue the previous example, if a value of the dataset 135 thatcharacterizes a location, and the location is within multipleoverlapping regions according to multiple rules, the digital precedencerule may decide that all of them are to be applied, or less than all ofthem are to be applied. Equivalent embodiments are also possible, wheredigital precedence rules are applied first to limit the iterative searchof the flowchart portion 200, so as to test the applicability of fewerthan all the rules according to arrows 171.

Another example for how to recognize that a certain condition of acertain digital rule is met by at least one of the values of the dataset135 is that the certain condition could be regarding whether aparticular piece of data originating from the dataset 135 or anothersource is identified, such as via a tag 149 or otherwise, as beingassociated with primary entity 193 or another particular entity, such asintermediary entity 160 or secondary entity 196. If such a condition ismet, the digital rules 170 may indicate to store the tag 149 associatedwith or otherwise electronically attached to such data upon receivingthe data and/or when an action 144 (e.g., copying or modifying) isperformed on the data.

In embodiments, a resource may be produced for the dataset, by thecomputer system 195 applying the certain consequent of the certaindigital main rule. The resource can be, or be a part of, a computationalresult, a document, an item of value, a representation of an item ofvalue, etc., made, created or prepared for the user 192, the primaryentity 193, the secondary entity 196, the intermediary entity 160, etc.,on the basis of the attribute. As such, in some embodiments, theresource is produced by a determination and/or a computation. In theexample of FIG. 1 , a resource 179 is produced for the dataset 135, bythe computer system 195 applying the certain M_RULE6 176, and inparticular its certain consequent CT6, as indicated by the arrow 178. Infact, sometimes applying the consequent is more simply stated as“applying the rule”.

The resource may be produced in a number of ways. For example, thecertain consequent can be applied to one or more of the values of thedataset 135. For instance, one of the values of the dataset 135 can be anumerical base value, e.g. B1, that encodes an aspect of the dataset135, as mentioned above. In such cases, applying the certain consequentmay include performing a mathematical operation on the base value B1.For example, applying the certain consequent may include multiplying thebase value B 1 with a number indicated by the certain consequent. Such anumber can be, for example, a percentage, e.g., 1.5%, 3%, 5%, and so on.Such a number can be indicated directly by the certain rule, or bestored in a place indicated by the certain rule, and so on.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments two or more digital main rulesmay be applied. For instance, referring again to FIG. 1 , the computersystem 195 may recognize that an additional condition of an additionalone of the accessed digital main rules 170 is met by at least one of thevalues of the dataset 135. In this example there would be no digitalprecedence rules, or the available digital precedence rules would notpreclude both the certain digital main rule and the additional digitalmain rule from being applied concurrently. Such an additional digitalmain rule would have an additional consequent.

In such embodiments, the resource may be produced by the computer systemapplying the certain consequent and the additional consequent. Forinstance, where the base value B1 is used, applying the certainconsequent may include multiplying the base value B1 with a first numberindicated by the certain consequent, so as to compute a first product.In addition, applying the additional consequent may include multiplyingthe base value B 1 with a second number indicated by the additionalconsequent, so as to compute a second product. And, the resource may beproduced by summing the first product and the second product.

In embodiments, a notification, such as notification 136, can be causedto be transmitted, e.g., via the network 188, by the computer system.The notification can be about an aspect of the resource. In the exampleof FIG. 1 , a notification 136 can be caused to be transmitted by thecomputer system 195, for example as an answer or other response to thereceived dataset 135. In some embodiments, notification 136 can also orinstead be caused to be transmitted by the computer system 195, forexample as an answer or other response to data received by the computersystem 195 from other external sources, alone or in combination withdata from dataset 135. The notification 136 can be about an aspect ofthe resource 179. In particular, the notification 136 may inform aboutthe aspect of the resource 179, namely that it has been determined,where it can be found, what it is, or at least a portion or a statisticof its content, a rounded version of it, and so on. Of course, theplanning should be that the recipient of the notification 136understands what it is being provided. In such instances a resource neednot be produced for the notification 136 to be transmitted. Inparticular, the notification 136 may inform about the aspect of theprediction resource 179, namely that it has been determined, where itcan be found, what it is, or at least a portion or a statistic of itscontent, a rounded version of it, and so on. Of course, the planningshould be that the recipient of the notification 136 understands what itis being provided. The notification 136 can also or instead indicate anaction 144 has been performed regarding the first data 145 and/or thatall data of the primary entity 193 tracked via tag 149 has been deletedor modified.

The notification 136 can be transmitted to one of an output device andanother device. The output device may be the screen of a local user or aremote user. The notification 136 may thus cause a desired image,message, or other such notification to appear on the screen, such aswithin a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and so on. The other device canbe the remote device, from which the dataset 135 was received, as in theexample of FIG. 1 . In particular, the computer system 195 may cause thenotification 136 to be communicated by being encoded as a payload 137,which is carried by a response 187. The response 187 may be transmittedvia the network 188 responsive to the received request 184. The response187 may be transmitted to the computer system 190, or to OPF 189, and soon. As such, the other device can be the computer system 190, or the OPF189, or the screen 191 of the user 192, and so on. In this example, thesingle payload 137 encodes the entire notification 136, but that is notrequired. Similarly with what is written above about encoding datasetsin payloads, the notification 136 instead may be provided via two ormore payloads, or in other cases the notification 136, and at least oneother notification, may be included in the same single payload. Alongwith the aspect of the resource 179, it can be advantageous to embed inthe payload 137 the identity value (ID) and/or one or more values of thedataset 135 and/or the tag 149. This will help the recipient correlatethe response 187 to the request 184, and therefore match the receivedaspect of the resource 179 as the answer or other response to theappropriate dataset or request.

In an example embodiment, there may be a plurality of relationshipinstances between the primary entity 193 and one or more secondaryentities, such as secondary entity 196. In some embodiments, suchrelationship instances are between the primary entity 193 and one ormore secondary entities, such as secondary entity 196, via one or moreintermediary entities, such as intermediary entity 160 usingcommunication 162. Each relationship instance may be associated with oneor more respective domains of a plurality of domains. Also, eachrelationship instance may be associated with one or more respectiveintermediary entities, such as intermediary entity 160, which handles orfacilitates creation of the relationship instance using communication162. For example, a resource associated with the relationship instance197 may be received by the primary entity 193 via the intermediaryentity 160. In various embodiments, a domain may be a region defined bya boundary as discussed above or may be an entity representing orotherwise associated with the region. For example, the region could begeographic, within the space of a city, a county, a state, a country, acontinent or the earth. The plurality of relationship instances mayresult in a requirement that an electronic reporting document associatedwith the primary entity 193 be prepared regarding an amount of resourcesdue to one or more of the plurality of domains, that the document besent to one or more of the plurality of domains and that resourcespossibly be remitted to one or more of the plurality of domains. Adomain as used herein may refer to a geographic area or to one or moreauthorities (or computerized systems controlled by such authorities)that set or define rules or digital rules for such a geographic area ordomain as described herein. The OSP 198 may perform or facilitate suchelectronic actions.

For example, in one embodiment, primary entity 193 may have arelationship instance with secondary entity 196 and that particularrelationship instance may be associated with one or more domains andwith the particular intermediary entity 160 through which a resourceassociated with the relationship instance 197 was received by theprimary entity 193 from the secondary entity 196. The association of therelationship instance with the one or more domains may be based on avariety of characteristics including, but not limited to: a relationshipof one or more of the primary entity and secondary entity with theparticular domain; a location of one or more of the primary entity andsecondary entity within or associated with the particular domain; aregion or location associated with one or more of the primary entity andsecondary entity being within or associated with the particular domain;a previous relationship of one or more of the primary entity andsecondary entity with the particular domain; a location of itemsassociated with one or more of the primary entity and secondary entitywithin the particular domain; a number of relationships of one or moreof the primary entity and secondary entity with the particular domain; atransfer of items associated with one or more of the primary entity andsecondary entity to or from an entity within or associated with theparticular domain; a transfer of data associated with one or more of theprimary entity and secondary entity to or from an entity within orassociated the particular domain, etc. The existence or identificationof the relationship instance and/or one or more characteristics of therelationship instance may be defined or represented by values of dataset135.

In some embodiments, for each relationship instance of the plurality ofrelationship instances, the OSP 198 electronically identifies a rate tocalculate an amount of resource due to one or more respective domainsassociated with the relationship instance based on a source of aresource received for the relationship instance and the one or morerespective domains. For example, the primary entity 193 may send request184 to the computer system 195 of OSP 198 for services that facilitateremitting resources due to one or more respective domains. The request184 may include the existence or identification of the relationshipinstance and/or one or more characteristics of the relationship instanceas part of payload 134. The service engine 183 may then apply digitalrules 170 to the relationship instance and/or one or morecharacteristics of the relationship instance to identify or otherwisedetermine the rate to calculate an amount of resource due to one or morerespective domains associated with the relationship instance.

For example, digital precedence rule P_RULE2 172 may decide that ruleM_RULE5 175 is to be applied when a particular condition is met. Digitalprecedence rule P_RULE2 172 may include a condition that indicates if aparticular relationship instance is associated with a particular domain,then rule M_RULE5 175 is to be applied. The service engine 183 maydetermine that the condition is met due to one or more values of dataset135 indicating the particular relationship instance and that theparticular relationship instance is associated with the particulardomain. Thus, as a consequent of precedence rule P_RULE2 172, theservice engine 183 applies rule M_RULE5 175. Rule M_RULE5 175 mayinclude a condition CN5 that indicates if a particular source of theresource received for that relationship instance is associated with thatparticular domain, then, as consequent CT5, a particular rate is to beused to calculate an amount of resource due to that particular domain.

Referring again to FIG. 2 , at decision diamond 285 it is determinedthat the condition CN5 is met (i.e., that the particular source of theresource received for that relationship instance is associated with thatparticular domain) and thus, the particular rate is used to calculate anamount of resource due to that particular domain. Thus, by applyingdigital rules 170, the service engine 183 identifies the rate tocalculate an amount of resource due to one or more respective domainsassociated with the relationship instance based on a source of aresource received for the relationship instance and the one or morerespective domains, and also calculates an amount of resources due to atleast one respective domain associated with the relationship instancebased on the identified rate. In some embodiments, this calculatedamount of resources due may be included by the service engine 183 aspart of the resulting requested resource 179 and/or notification 136.The service engine 183 may then form a payload 137 that is an aspect ofthe resource 179, and then push, send, or otherwise cause to betransmitted a response 187 that carries the payload 137 to a deviceremote to the service engine 183, such as computer system 190, a deviceof secondary entity 196 or another secondary entity. Digital rules 170may include multiple different digital rules for each type ofrelationship instance and different domains. In various embodiments, thenotification 136 may comprise the response 187, or the response 187 maybe included in the notification 136.

In may often occur that the primary entity 193 may provide certain datathat comprises or is part of the dataset 135 which the primary entity193 at some point may request the OSP 198 to delete or modify. Forexample, such information may include one or more of: an electronicdocument associated with the entity; one or more content itemsassociated with the entity; a category of data associated with theentity; a dataset associated with the entity; a collection of dataassociated with the entity; a name of the entity; an address of theentity; sales data of the entity; a location of the entity; a socialsecurity number of the entity; a tax identifier of the entity;identifying number or code of the entity; a telephone number of theentity, an email address of the entity; contact information for theentity; business data of the entity; user name of the entity; logincredentials of the entity; electronic documents of the entity; financialinformation of the entity; personal information of the entity;confidential information of the entity and personal identifiableinformation of the entity.

In order to more efficiently fulfill the electronic request to delete ormodify all of such data associated with or provided by primary entity193, in various embodiments, the OSP 198 may electronically track suchdata via electronically tagging such data it receives, and causing thattag (e.g., tag 149) to automatically follow such data whenever it iselectronically copied or modified. For example, in one embodiment, theOSP 198 may electronically associate the received first data 145 withthe primary entity 193. The OSP 198 then applies 141 one or more digitalrules 170 to electronically tag 148 the received first data 145 with anelectronic tag 149 uniquely associated with the primary entity 193,including an identifier uniquely associated with the primary entity 193.The OSP 198 then electronically stores the received first data 145 astagged data 142, such that the received first data 145 is identifiablevia the electronic tag 149. The OSP 198 may then apply 172 one or moredigital rules to electronically tag 173 with the electronic tag 149 asecond data 146 associated with the primary entity 193 resulting from anaction 144 (e.g., copying or modifying) performed on the stored receivedfirst data 145, such that the second data 146 associated with theprimary entity 193 resulting from the action 144 performed on the storedreceived first data 145 is also identifiable via the electronic tag 149.The OSP 198 then electronically stores the tagged second data 143associated with the primary entity 193 resulting from the action 144performed on the stored received first data 145 such that the seconddata 146 associated with the primary entity 193 resulting from theaction 144 performed on the stored received first data 145 is alsoidentifiable via the electronic tag 149.

When and how to perform such tagging may be indicated by and performedaccording to one or more digital rules 170 stored by or otherwiseaccessible by the OSP 198. For example, the automatic electronic taggingof the first data 145 may be performed upon receipt of the first data145 from the primary entity 193 via dataset 135 according one or moredigital rules 170. In one embodiment, the condition indicated by one ofthe digital rules 170 for tagging the first data 145 with electronic tag149 associated with primary entity 193 is that the first data 145 mustbe received from primary entity 193, as indicated by the dataset 135and/or the request 184. Also, a condition indicated by one of thedigital rules 170 for tagging the second data 146 with electronic tag149 associated with primary entity 193 is that the action 144 is anaction performed on data tagged with electronic tag 149 associated withprimary entity 193.

FIG. 3A is a flowchart for illustrating a sample method 300 according toembodiments of the present disclosure that is an improvement inautomated computerized systems.

At 302, the OSP 198 electronically receiving a first data.

At 304, the OSP 198 electronically associates the received first datawith an entity.

At 306, the OSP 198 electronically tags the received first data with anelectronic tag uniquely associated with the entity including anidentifier uniquely associated with the entity. The electronic tag mayinclude a unique identifier that is a unique digital code or otherstring of characters unique to the particular entity. In someembodiments, the unique identifier or electronic tag may have a prefixor other sub-string that identifies the electronic tag as an electronictag or identifies the type of data that is tagged with the electronictag.

At 308, the OSP 198 electronically stores the received first data suchthat the received first data is identifiable via the electronic tag. Forexample, the tag may be stored in a specific field of a database recordthat stores the first data. The field may be labeled as a tag field orlikewise to identify the field as including the electronic tagassociated with the first data. In some embodiments, the tag may bestored as a parameter value in computer code associated with the firstdata. In some embodiments, the tag may be embedded in an electronicdocument in which the first data is stored adjacent to or otherwiseassociated with the first data in the electronic document. The tag mayalso or instead be used to encrypt or generate a hash of the first data.In various embodiment, the tag may be stored in a data structure that isassociated with the first data.

At 310, the OSP 198 electronically tags with the electronic tag a seconddata associated with the entity resulting from an action performed onthe stored received first data such that the second data associated withthe entity resulting from the action performed on the stored receivedfirst data is also identifiable via the electronic tag. Thiselectronically tagging the second data may be according to one or moredigital rules. The action may include, but is not limited to, copying,modifying or moving the data.

In particular, in one embodiment, the OSP 198 may copy the electronictag along with the stored received first data, or any piece of thestored received first data identified as unique to the entity, wheneverthe stored received first data, or any piece of the stored receivedfirst data identified as unique to the entity, is moved or copied to adifferent database or electronic document than in which the storedreceived first data was originally stored, according to a first digitalrule. For example, if the stored received first data is an address, thenthe street name and house number piece of that address is alsoidentified as unique to the entity, even if the city name and zip codepieces are not. Thus, if the street name and house number piece is movedor copied to a different database than in which the full address isstored, then the electronic tag is copied along with the street name andhouse number piece that is moved or copied to a different database.

Furthermore, the OSP 198 may copy the tag along with the stored receivedfirst data, or any piece of the stored received first data identified asunique to the entity, whenever the stored received first data, or anypiece of the stored received first data identified as unique to theentity, is modified and then moved or copied to a different databasethan in which the stored received first data was originally stored,according to a second digital rule.

Also, the OSP 198 may maintain the electronic tag as associated with thestored received first data, or any piece of the stored received firstdata identified as unique to the entity, whenever the stored receivedfirst data, or any piece of the stored received first data identified asunique to the entity, is modified, according to a third digital rule. Insuch embodiments, each piece of the stored received first dataidentified as unique to the entity may be identified as unique to theentity via the electronic tag also being associated, according to afourth digital rule, with the piece of the stored received first dataidentified as unique to the entity. For example, if the stored receivedfirst data is an address, then the street name and house number piece ofthat address is also identified as unique to the entity, even if thecity name and zip code pieces alone are not identified as unique to theentity. Thus, if the street name and house number piece is modified(e.g., street name changed from “123 Main St.” to “123 Main Street”),then the same electronic tag that is used to tag the full address, andthat is also used to tag the street name and house number piece of thataddress, is maintained and used to tag the modified street name andhouse number piece “123 Main Street”.

At 312, the OSP 198 electronically stores the tagged second dataassociated with the entity resulting from the action performed on thestored received first data such that the second data associated with theentity resulting from the action performed on the stored received firstdata is also identifiable via the electronic tag. In some embodiments,the electronically tagging the received data includes electronicallyrecording an association of the electronic tag with the received data asa transaction on a blockchain. The transaction on the blockchain isassociated with the electronic tag and with the received data. Theelectronically tagging with the electronic tag the second dataassociated with the entity resulting from an action performed on thestored received first data then includes electronically recording theaction performed on the stored received first data as an additionaltransaction on the blockchain. The additional transaction on the blockchain is associated with the electronic tag and with the second dataassociated with the entity resulting from the action performed on thestored received first data

FIG. 3B is a flowchart for illustrating a sample method 303 forperforming an action regarding all data stored by an online softwareplatform (OSP) that is tagged with an electronic tag uniquely associatedwith an entity according to embodiments of the present disclosure, andis an improvement in automated computerized systems.

At 314, the OSP 198 electronically receives a request regarding all dataassociated with the entity that is stored by the OSP 198. For example,the action indicated by the request may be electronic deletion of allthe data stored by the OSP 198 that is associated with the entity. Theaction indicated by the request may instead be to modify all the datastored by the OSP 198 that is associated with the entity. In someembodiments, one entity may have different tags associated with theentity for different types of data associated with the entity stored bythe OSP 198. Thus, the request may indicate to modify all of thespecific type of data associated with the entity identified by the tag.In some embodiments, the action indicated by the request iselectronically sending a report regarding all the data stored by the OSP198 that is associated with the entity. The report may include a listingor identification of all such data identified by the tag associated withthe entity, or a listing or identification of all such data that hadjust been deleted that was identified by the tag associated with theentity.

At 316, the OSP 198, in response to receiving the request,electronically searches, using the electronic tag, for all dataassociated with the entity that is stored by the OSP. For example, sucha search may include all electronic databases, electronic documents,data structures and electronic storage areas of the OSP 198 oraccessible by the OSP 198.

At 318, the OSP 198 electronically identifies, based on the searching,all data stored by the OSP 198 that is tagged with the electronic taguniquely associated with the entity.

At 320 the OSP 198 electronically performs an action indicated by therequest regarding all the data stored by the OSP 198 that is tagged withthe electronic tag uniquely associated with the entity.

FIG. 3C is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of tagging andstoring a piece of personal information associated with an entityaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure, and is animprovement in automated computerized systems.

In the example shown, example “Entity C Personal Information X” 322(e.g., an address of entity C) is received by the OSP 198, e.g., as partof dataset 135 of FIG. 1 . In response to receiving “Entity C PersonalInformation X” 322, the service engine 183 of the OSP 198 determines ifan electronic tag exists for entity C in an electronic registry 324 thatassociates electronic tags with the respective entity. If an electronictag does not exist for entity C in an electronic registry 324, then theservice engine 183 of the OSP 198 generates an electronic tag thatincludes an identifier unique to entity C and stores the electronic tagin the electronic registry 324 associated with entity C (shown as tag“C” 330 in electronic registry 324 as associated with entity C). Theelectronic registry 324 may be stored as part of data 138 in memory 138of computer system 195 shown in FIG. 1 , or may be stored in any otherstorage area or device (local or remote) accessible by the OSP 198.

The service engine 183 may then electronically store “Entity C PersonalInformation X” 322 in a first database 326 of the OSP 198 in a record inupdated first database 328 with electronic tag “C” 330 such that the“Entity C Personal Information X” 322 is identifiable in the updateddatabase 328 via the electronic tag “C” 330. In particular, the serviceengine 183 may subsequently be able to search the updated first database328 using the electronic tag “C” 330 as a search parameter and find“Entity C Personal Information X” 322 and identify it as beingassociated with entity C. In some embodiments, the service engine 183may also go back to attempt to find previously stored untagged dataassociated with a particular existing client, such as a particularentity (e.g., by using the particular entity’s name or otheridentifier(s)) and tag that data with a unique electronic tag associatedwith the particular entity.

At some point, the service engine 183 may modify “Entity C PersonalInformation X” 322. For example, the original “Entity C PersonalInformation X” 322 may be an address:

-   John Doe-   300 Acre Lane West-   Nowhere, WA 98103-   An address validation service of the OSP 198 may automatically    improve the address to:-   John Doe-   300 Acre Lane West-   Nowhere Island, WA 98103

In such an instance as above, the service engine 183 will maintain theelectronic tag “C” 330 associated with “Entity C Personal Information X”322 such that the improved address is still identifiable via a search inthe updated database 328 via the electronic tag “C” 330.

FIG. 3D is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of how a tagfollows tagged personal information associated with a particular entitywhen copied into another location, such as into a document, according toembodiments of the present disclosure, and is an improvement inautomated computerized systems.

Continuing with the previous example of FIG. 3C, a request 332 isreceived by the OSP 198 to copy “Entity C Personal Information X” 322 inupdated database 328 into Document A 334, or an internal operation ofthe service engine 183 causes “Entity C Personal Information X” 322 inupdated database 328 to be copied into document A 334. As shown, “EntityC Personal Information X” 322 in updated database 328 is copied intodocument A 334 along with electronic tag “C” 330 such that “Entity CPersonal Information X” 322 may be subsequently found in updateddocument A 336 using electronic tag “C” 330.

FIG. 3E is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of how all taggedpersonal information associated with a particular entity may be foundand deleted in response to a request, according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, and is an improvement in automated computerizedsystems.

Continuing with the previous example of FIG. 3D, a request 332 isreceived by the OSP 198 to delete all entity C data from the OSP 198.The service engine 183 electronically searches the registry 324 to findthe electronic tag “C” associated with entity C. The service engine 183then searches 340 all databases, documents and data structures for alldata associated with entity C using the electronic tag “C” and finds“Entity C Personal Information X” 322 tagged with electronic tag “C” inthe updated first database 328 and in the Updated Document A 336. Theservice engine 183 then deletes Entity C Personal Information X″ 322tagged with electronic tag “C” from the updated first database 328 andfrom the updated document A 336. In some embodiments, the service engine183 may also delete the “Entity C” entry in the registry 324 along withthe electronic tag “C”.

FIG. 3F is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of how particulartagged personal information associated with a particular entity may befound and modified in response to a request, according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure, and is an improvement in automated computerizedsystems.

Continuing with the previous example of FIG. 3D, a request 342 isreceived by the OSP 198 to modify all entity C data from the OSP 198. Insome embodiments, one entity may have different tags associated with theentity for different types of data associated with the entity stored bythe OSP 198. Thus, the request 342 may indicate to modify all of thespecific type of data associated with the entity identified by the tag.The service engine 183 electronically searches the registry 324 to findthe electronic tag “C” associated with entity C. The service engine 183then searches 344 all databases, documents and data structures for alldata associated with entity C using the electronic tag “C” and finds“Entity C Personal Information X” 322 tagged with electronic tag “C” inthe updated first database 328 and in the updated document A 336. Theservice engine 183 then modifies Entity C Personal Information X″ taggedwith electronic tag “C” in the updated first database 328 and theUpdated Document A 336 to create” Modified Entity C Personal InformationX″ according to the request 342.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing additional components of samplecomputer systems according to embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 4 shows details for a sample computer system 495 and for a samplecomputer system 490. The computer system 495 may be a server, while thecomputer system 490 may be a personal device, such as a personalcomputer, a desktop computer, a personal computing device such as alaptop computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, and so on. Eithertype may be used for the computer system 195 and 190 of FIG. 1 , acomputer system that is part of OPF 189 and/or a computer system that ispart of any entity or system shown in any of the Figures of the presentdisclosure.

The computer system 495 and the computer system 490 have similarities,which FIG. 4 exploits for purposes of economy in this document. It willbe understood, however, that a component in the computer system 495 maybe implemented differently than the same component in the computersystem 490. For instance, a memory in a server may be larger than amemory in a personal computer, and so on. Similarly, custom applicationprograms 474 that implement embodiments may be different, and so on.

The computer system 495 includes one or more processors 494. Theprocessor(s) 494 are one or more physical circuits that manipulatephysical quantities representing data values. The manipulation can beaccording to control signals, which can be known as commands, op codes,machine code, etc. The manipulation can produce corresponding outputsignals that are applied to operate a machine. As such, one or moreprocessors 494 may, for example, include a Central Processing Unit(CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a ComplexInstruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Field-Programmable Gate Array(FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), anycombination of these, and so on. A processor may further be a multi-coreprocessor having two or more independent processors that executeinstructions. Such independent processors are sometimes called “cores”.

A hardware component such as a processor may also include programmablelogic or circuitry that is temporarily configured by software to performcertain operations. For example, a hardware component may includesoftware executed by a general-purpose processor or another type ofprogrammable processor. Once configured by such software, hardwarecomponents become specific specialized machines, or specific specializedcomponents of a machine, uniquely tailored to perform the configuredfunctions and are no longer general-purpose processors. It will beappreciated that the decision to implement a hardware componentmechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

As used herein, a “component” may refer to a device, physical entity orlogic having boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branchpoints, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), or other technologiesthat provide for the partitioning or modularization of particularprocessing or control functions. Components may be combined via theirinterfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. Acomponent may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for usewith other components and a part of a program that usually performs aparticular function of related functions. Components may constituteeither software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readablemedium) or hardware components. The hardware components depicted in thecomputer system 495, or the computer system 490, are not intended to beexhaustive. Rather, they are representative, for highlighting essentialcomponents that can be used with embodiments.

The computer system 495 also includes a system bus 412 that is coupledto the processor(s) 494. The system bus 412 can be used by theprocessor(s) 494 to control and/or communicate with other components ofthe computer system 495.

The computer system 495 additionally includes a network interface 419that is coupled to system bus 412. Network interface 419 can be used toaccess a communications network, such as the network 188. Networkinterface 419 can be implemented by a hardware network interface, suchas a Network Interface Card (NIC), wireless communication components,cellular communication components, Near Field Communication (NFC)components, Bluetooth® components such as Bluetooth® Low Energy, Wi-Fi®components, etc. Of course, such a hardware network interface may haveits own software, and so on.

The computer system 495 also includes various memory components. Thesememory components include memory components shown separately in thecomputer system 495, plus cache memory within the processor(s) 494.Accordingly, these memory components are examples of non-transitorymachine-readable media. The memory components shown separately in thecomputer system 495 are variously coupled, directly or indirectly, withthe processor(s) 494. The coupling in this example is via the system bus412.

Instructions for performing any of the methods or functions described inthis document may be stored, completely or partially, within the memorycomponents of the computer system 495, etc. Therefore, one or more ofthese non-transitory computer-readable media can be configured to storeinstructions which, when executed by one or more processors 494 of ahost computer system such as the computer system 495 or the computersystem 490, can cause the host computer system to perform operationsaccording to embodiments. The instructions may be implemented bycomputer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thisdocument. The computer program code may be written in any combination ofone or more programming languages, including an object-orientedprogramming language such as Java, Smalltalk or the like, and/orconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages such as C++, CSharp, etc.

The memory components of the computer system 495 include a non-volatilehard drive 433. The computer system 495 further includes a hard driveinterface 432 that is coupled to the hard drive 433 and to the systembus 412.

The memory components of the computer system 495 include a system memory438. The system memory 438 includes volatile memory including, but notlimited to, cache memory, registers and buffers. In embodiments, datafrom the hard drive 433 populates registers of the volatile memory ofthe system memory 438.

In some embodiments, the system memory 438 has a software architecturethat uses a stack of layers, with each layer providing a particularfunctionality. In this example the layers include, starting from thebottom, an Operating System (OS) 450, libraries 460,frameworks/middleware 468 and application programs 470, which are alsoknown as applications 470. Other software architectures may includeless, more or different layers. For example, a presentation layer mayalso be included. For another example, some mobile or special purposeoperating systems may not provide a frameworks/middleware 468.

The OS 450 may manage hardware resources and provide common services.The libraries 460 provide a common infrastructure that is used by theapplications 470 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries460 provide functionality that allows other software components toperform tasks more easily than if they interfaced directly with thespecific underlying functionality of the OS 450. The libraries 460 mayinclude system libraries 461, such as a C standard library. The systemlibraries 461 may provide functions such as memory allocation functions,string manipulation functions, mathematical functions, and the like.

In addition, the libraries 460 may include API libraries 462 and otherlibraries 463. The API libraries 462 may include media libraries, suchas libraries to support presentation and manipulation of various mediaformats such as MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, and PNG. The APIlibraries 462 may also include graphics libraries, for instance anOpenGL framework that may be used to render 2D and 3D in a graphiccontent on the screen 491. The API libraries 462 may further includedatabase libraries, for instance SQLite, which may support variousrelational database functions. The API libraries 462 may additionallyinclude web libraries, for instance WebKit, which may support webbrowsing functionality, and also libraries for applications 470.

The frameworks/middleware 468 may provide a higher-level commoninfrastructure that may be used by the applications 470 and/or othersoftware components/modules. For example, the frameworks/middleware 468may provide various Graphic User Interface (GUI) functions, high-levelresource management, high-level location services, and so forth. Theframeworks/middleware 468 may provide a broad spectrum of other APIsthat may be used by the applications 470 and/or other softwarecomponents/modules, some of which may be specific to the OS 450 or to aplatform.

The application programs 470 are also known more simply as applicationsand apps. One such app is a browser 2771, which is a software that canpermit the user 192 to access other devices in the internet, for examplewhile using a Graphic User Interface (GUI). The browser 2771 includesprogram modules and instructions that enable the computer system 495 toexchange network messages with a network, for example using HypertextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) messaging.

The application programs 470 may include one or more custom applications474, made according to embodiments. These can be made so as to causetheir host computer to perform operations according to embodimentsdisclosed herein. Of course, when implemented by software, operationsaccording to embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented much fasterthan may be implemented by a human mind if they can be implemented inthe human mind at all; for example, tens or hundreds of such operationsmay be performed per second according to embodiments, which is muchfaster than a human mind can do. Such speed of operations, and thus theuse of such computing systems and networks, are integral to theembodiments described herein because such operations would bepractically useless unless they are able to be applied to hundreds orthousands of computer network clients simultaneously or concurrentlyacross computer networks and to the vast volumes of data that change inreal-time provided by such computer network clients. Implementing apractical application of the embodiments described herein to hundreds orthousands of computer network clients simultaneously or concurrentlyacross computer networks on which they operate and to the vast volumesof data that change in real-time provided by such computer networkclients is impossible to do in the human mind.

Other such applications 470 may include a contacts application, a wordprocessing application, a location application, a media application, amessaging application, and so on. Applications 470 may be developedusing the ANDROID™ or IOS™ Software Development Kit (SDK) by an entityother than the vendor of the particular platform, and may be mobilesoftware running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™,WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. The applications 470may use built-in functions of the OS 450, of the libraries 460, and ofthe frameworks/middleware 468 to create user interfaces for the user 192to interact with.

The computer system 495 moreover includes a bus bridge 420 coupled tothe system bus 412. The computer system 495 furthermore includes aninput/output (I/O) bus 421 coupled to the bus bridge 420. The computersystem 495 also includes an I/O interface 422 coupled to the I/O bus421.

For being accessed, the computer system 495 also includes one or moreUniversal Serial Bus (USB) ports 429. These can be coupled to the I/Ointerface 422. The computer system 495 further includes a media tray426, which may include storage devices such as CD-ROM drives,multi-media interfaces, and so on.

The computer system 490 may include many components similar to those ofthe computer system 495, as seen in FIG. 4 . In addition, a number ofthe application programs may be more suitable for the computer system490 than for the computer system 495.

The computer system 490 further includes peripheral input/output (I/O)devices for being accessed by a user more routinely. As such, thecomputer system 490 includes a screen 491 and a video adapter 428 todrive and/or support the screen 491. The video adapter 428 is coupled tothe system bus 412.

The computer system 490 also includes a keyboard 423, a mouse 424, and aprinter 425. In this example, the keyboard 423, the mouse 424, and theprinter 425 are directly coupled to the I/O interface 422. Sometimesthis coupling is wireless or may be via the USB ports 429.

In this context, “machine-readable medium” refers to a component, deviceor other tangible media able to store instructions and data temporarilyor permanently and may include, but is not be limited to: a thumb drive,a hard disk, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffermemory, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, anErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), an optical fiber, aportable digital versatile disc (DVD), an optical storage device, amagnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.The machine that would read such a medium includes one or moreprocessors 494.

The term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a singlemedium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,or associated caches and servers) able to store instructions that amachine such as a processor can store, erase, or read. The term“machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium, orcombination of multiple media, that is capable of storing instructions(e.g., code) for execution by a machine, such that the instructions,when executed by one or more processors of the machine, cause themachine to perform any one or more of the methods described herein.Accordingly, instructions transform a general or otherwise generic,non-programmed machine into a specialized particular machine programmedto carry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed.

A computer readable signal traveling from, to, and via these componentsmay include a propagated data signal with computer readable program codeembodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave.Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including,but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitablecombination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be anycomputer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage mediumand that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use byor in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice.

OPERATIONAL EXAMPLES - USE CASES

The above-mentioned embodiments have one or more uses. Aspects presentedbelow may be implemented as was described above for similar aspects.(Some, but not all, of these aspects have even similar referencenumerals.)

As an example use case, the primary entity 193 of FIG. 1 may be a seller593 of goods or services who uses the electronic services of the OSP 598to calculate sales tax on transactions of the seller in real-time as thetransactions occur as well preparation and sending of an associated taxreturn document for the transaction 597. In the process of the OSP 598providing such services, the OSP 598 may collect and store personal andfinancial seller data 545 of the seller 593. The seller 593 may at somepoint request the OSP 598 to delete or modify all such seller datastored by the OSP 598. Thus, OSP 598 may offer the feature ofadditionally specially tagging such data elements, such as seller data545, with electronic tags consistent for and unique to each client, suchas seller 593. Then, if a request for deletion were made by a specificclient, such as seller 593, it is fulfilled with much less effort,namely electronically searching for elements with that client’selectronic tag 549 according to digital tax and data tracking rules 570,and thus is an improvement to computerized data tracking systems.

Thus, the systems and methods described herein for automated actions forelectronically tracking client data improves the functioning of computeror other hardware, such as by reducing the processing, storage, and/ordata transmission resources needed to perform various tasks, therebyenabling the tasks to be performed by less capable, capacious, and/orexpensive hardware devices, and/or be performed with less latency,and/or preserving more of the conserved resources for use in performingother tasks or additional instances of the same task.

Operational examples and sample use cases are possible where theattribute of an entity in a dataset is any one of: the entity’s name;type of entity; a physical location such as an address; a contactinformation element; transactions of the entity; an identifier of aspecific source of revenue received for a transaction of the entity;characteristics of transactions of the entity; licensure and/or orregistration of the entity and/or products or services the entityproduces, sells, stores and/or transfers; products or services produced,sold, stored and/or transferred by the entity; types of products orservices produced, sold, stored and/or transferred by the entity; alocation to which products are sent, shipped or transferred; a locationfrom which products are received; a location of a property owned by theentity; a location of a property owned by the entity within a particularregion of other domain; an affiliation; a characterization of anotherentity; a characterization by another entity; an association orrelationship with another entity (general or specific instances); anasset of the entity; a declaration by or on behalf of the entity; and soon. Different resources may be produced in such instances, and so on.

FIG. 5 is diagram for an operational example and use case where theresource 579 includes a tax obligation of a seller 593, an intermediaryentity 560 and/or a secondary entity 596, due to a transaction 597. Theresource 579 may also include the preparation and sending of anassociated tax return document for the transaction 597. In the presentexample, the transaction 597 may be made via an intermediary entity 560that handles the transaction 597 between the seller 593 and thesecondary entity 596 via communication 562 by the intermediary entity560 with the secondary entity 596. The transaction 597 may include someor all of the data comprising the communication 562 between theintermediary entity 560 and the secondary entity 596. For example,values that characterize attributes of the transaction 597 may beextracted from the communication 562 such as price, fees and/or or ratefor the transaction; taxes for the transaction; address or location ofthe transaction; identification of the seller 593, secondary entity 596and/or intermediary entity 560; a contract or agreement between theseller and another entity; a contract or agreement regarding collectionor remitting of taxes for the transaction; other terms of thetransaction; etc. In some embodiments, the communication 562 may be madevia network 188. In some instances, some or all of the data comprisingthe communication 562 may be sent directly to the OSP 598 from theintermediary entity as part of dataset 535. In such embodiments, thetransaction 597 would be directly between the seller 593 and thesecondary entity 596 instead of being made via the intermediary entity560 using communication 562 as shown in FIG. 5 .

It will be recognized that aspects of FIG. 5 have similarities withaspects of FIG. 1 . Portions of such aspects may be implemented asdescribed for analogous aspects of FIG. 1 . In particular, a thick line515 separates FIG. 5 , although not completely or rigorously, into a topportion and a bottom portion. Above the line 515 the emphasis is mostlyon entities, components, their relationships, and their interactions,while below it the emphasis is mostly processing of data that takesplace often within one or more of the components above the line 515.

Above the line 515, a computer system 595 is shown, which is used tohelp customers, such as a user 592, with tax compliance. Further in thisexample, the computer system 595 is part of an OSP 598 that isimplemented as a Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, for beingaccessed by the user 592 online. Alternately, the functionality of thecomputer system 595 may be provided locally to a user.

The user 592 may be standalone. The user 592 may use a computer system590 that has a screen 591. In embodiments, the user 592 and the computersystem 590 are considered part of the seller 593, which is also known asseller 593. The seller 593 can be a business, such as a seller of items,a reseller, a buyer, and so on. In such instances, the user 592 can bean employee, a contractor, or otherwise an agent of the seller 593. Inuse cases, the secondary entity 596 is a buyer and together they areperforming the buy-sell transaction 597. The buy-sell transaction 597may involve an operation, such as an exchange of data to form anagreement. This operation can be performed in person, or over thenetwork 188, etc. In such cases the seller 593 can even be an onlineseller, but that is not necessary. The transaction 597 will have datathat is known to the seller 593, similarly with what was described bythe relationship instance 197 of FIG. 1 . In the present example, thetransactions 597 may be made via an intermediary entity 560.

In a number of instances, the user 592, the secondary seller 593 and/orthe intermediary entity 560 use software applications to manage theirbusiness activities, such as sales, resource management, production,inventory management, delivery, billing, and so on. The user 592, theseller 593 and/or the intermediary entity 560 may further use accountingapplications to manage purchase orders, reservations, bookings, salesinvoices, refunds, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, andso on. Such software applications, and more, may be used locally by theuser 592 or intermediary entity 560, or from an Online ProcessingFacility (OPF) 589 that has been engaged for this purpose by the user592, the seller 593 and/or intermediary entity 560. In such use cases,the OPF 589 can be a Mobile Payments system, a Point Of Sale (POS)system, an Accounting application, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)system or provider, an e-commerce provider, an electronic marketplace, aCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and so on. In someembodiments, the OPF may be, or be used by, the intermediary entity 560.

Businesses have tax obligations to various tax authorities of respectivetax jurisdictions. A first challenge is in making the relateddeterminations. Tax-related determinations, made for the ultimatepurpose of tax compliance, are challenging because the underlyingstatutes and tax rules and guidance issued by the tax authorities arevery complex. There are various types of tax, such as sales tax, usetax, excise tax, value-added tax, lodging tax, and issues aboutcross-border taxation including customs and duties, and many more. Sometypes of tax are industry specific. Each type of tax has its own set ofrules. Additionally, statutes, tax rules, and rates change often, andnew tax rules are continuously added. Compliance becomes furthercomplicated when a taxing authority offers a temporary tax holiday,during which certain taxes are waived.

Tax jurisdictions are defined mainly by geography. Businesses have taxobligations to various tax authorities within the respective taxjurisdictions. There are various tax authorities, such as that of acountry, of a state, of a municipality, of a local district such as alocal transit district and so on. So, for example, when a business sellsitems in transactions that can be taxed by a tax authority, the businessmay have the tax obligations to the tax authority. These obligationsinclude requiring the business to: a) register itself with the taxauthority’s taxing agency, b) set up internal processes for collectingsales tax in accordance with the sales tax rules of the tax authority,c) maintain records of the sales transactions and of the collected salestax in the event of a subsequent audit by the taxing agency, d)periodically prepare a form (“tax return”) that includes an accuratedetermination of the amount of the money owed to the tax authority assales tax because of the sales transactions, e) file the tax return withthe tax authority by a deadline determined by the tax authority, and f)pay (“remit”) that amount of money to the tax authority. In such cases,the filing and payment frequency and deadlines are determined by the taxauthority.

A technical challenge for businesses is that the above-mentionedsoftware applications generally cannot provide tax information that isaccurate enough for the businesses to be tax compliant with all therelevant tax authorities. The lack of accuracy may manifest itself aserrors in the amounts determined to be owed as taxes to the various taxauthorities, and it is plain not good to have such errors. For example,businesses that sell products and services have risks whether theyover-estimate or under-estimate the sales tax due from a saletransaction. On the one hand, if a seller over-estimates the sales taxdue, then the seller collects more sales tax from the buyers than wasdue. Of course, the seller may not keep this surplus sales tax, butinstead must pay it to the tax authorities - if they cannot refund it tothe buyers. If a buyer later learns that they paid unnecessarily moresales tax than was due, the seller risks at least harm to theirreputation. Sometimes the buyer will have the option to ask the statefor a refund of the excess tax by sending an explanation and thereceipt, but that is often not done as it is too cumbersome. On theother hand, if a seller under-estimates the sales tax due, then theseller collects less sales tax from the buyers, and therefore pays lesssales tax to the authorities than was actually due. That is anunderpayment of sales tax that will likely be discovered later, if thetax authority audits the seller. Then the seller will be required to paythe difference, plus fines and/or late fees, because ignorance of thelaw is not an excuse. Further, one should note that sales taxes areconsidered trust-fund taxes, meaning that the management of a companycan be held personally liable for the unpaid sales tax.

For sales in particular, making correct determinations for sales and usetax is even more difficult. There are a number of factors thatcontribute to its complexity.

First, some state and local tax authorities have origin-based tax rules,while others have destination-based tax rules. Accordingly, a sales taxmay be charged from the seller’s location or from the buyer’s location.

Second, the various tax authorities assess different, i.e. non-uniform,percentage rates of the sales price as sales tax, for the purchase andsale of items that involve their various tax jurisdictions. These taxjurisdictions include various states, counties, cities, municipalities,special taxing jurisdictions, and so on. In fact, there are over 10,000different tax jurisdictions in the US, with many partially overlapping.

Third, in some instances no sales tax is due at all because of the typeof item sold. For example, in 2018 selling cowboy boots was exempt fromsales tax in Texas, but not in New York. This non-uniformity gives riseto numerous individual taxability rules related to various products andservices across different tax jurisdictions.

Fourth, in some instances no sales tax is due at all because of who theindividual buyer is. For example, certain entities are exempt frompaying sales tax on their purchases, so long as they properly create andsign an exemption certificate and give it to the seller for eachpurchase made. Entities that are entitled to such exemptions may includewholesalers, resellers, non-profit charities, educational institutions,etc. Of course, who can be exempt is not exactly the same in each taxjurisdiction. And, even when an entity is entitled to be exempt,different tax jurisdictions may have different requirements for thecertificate of exemption to be issued and/or remain valid.

Fifth, it can be difficult to determine which tax authorities a sellerowes sales tax to. A seller may start with tax jurisdictions that it hasa physical presence in, such as a main office, a distribution center orwarehouse, an employee working remotely, and so on. Such ties with a taxjurisdiction establish the so-called physical nexus. However, a taxauthority such as a state or even a city may set its own nexus rules forwhen a business is considered to be “engaged in business” with it, andtherefore that business is subject to registration and collection ofsales taxes. These nexus rules may include different types of nexus,such as affiliate nexus, click-through nexus, cookie nexus, economicnexus with thresholds, and so on. For instance, due to economic nexus, aremote seller may owe sales tax for sales made in the jurisdiction thatare a) above a set threshold volume, and/or b) above a set thresholdnumber of sales transactions.

Even where a seller might not have reached any of the thresholds foreconomic nexus, a number of states are promulgating marketplacefacilitator laws that sometimes use such thresholds. According to suchlaws, intermediaries that are characterized as marketplace facilitatorsper laws of the state have an obligation, instead of the seller, tocollect sales tax on behalf of their sellers, and remit it to the state.The situation becomes even more complex when a seller sells directly toa state, and also via such an intermediary.

To help with such complex determinations and solve such technicalproblems, the computer system 595 may be a specialized device for taxcompliance as disclosed herein. The computer system 595 may have one ormore processors and memory, for example, as was described for thecomputer system 195 of FIG. 1 . The computer system 595 thus implementsa tax and data tracking engine 583 to make the determinations of taxobligations, track client data and perform preparation and sending ofassociated tax return document(s). The tax and data tracking engine 583can be as described for the service engine 183.

The computer system 595 may further store locally entity data, such asseller data 545, i.e., data of user 592, of seller 593 and/orintermediary entity 560, any of which/whom may be a customer, and/or aseller or a buyer in a sales transaction in various embodiments. Theentity data may include profile data of the customer and transactiondata from which a determination of a tax obligation is desired. In theonline implementation of FIG. 5 , the OSP 598 has a database 594 forstoring the entity data, including seller data 545. This entity data maybe inputted by the user 592, and/or caused to be downloaded or uploadedby the user 592 from the computer system 590, from the intermediaryentity 560 or from the OPF 589, or extracted from the computer system590 or from the intermediary entity 560 or from the OPF 589, and so on.In other implementations, a simpler memory configuration may suffice forstoring the entity data.

A digital tax content 586 is further implemented within the OSP 598. Thedigital tax content 586 can be a utility that stores digital tax anddata tracking rules 570 for use by the tax and data tracking engine 583.As part of managing the digital tax content 586, there may be continuousupdates of the digital tax rules, by inputs gleaned from a set 580 ofdifferent tax authorities 581, 582, .... Updating may be performed byhumans, or by computers, and so on. As mentioned above, the number ofthe different tax authorities in the set 580 may be very large.

For a specific determination of a tax obligation, the computer system595 may receive one or more datasets. A sample received dataset 535 isshown just below line 515, which can be similar to what was describedfor the dataset 135 of FIG. 1 . In this example, the computer system 590transmits a request 584 that includes a payload 534, and the dataset 535is received by the computer system 595 parsing the received payload 534.In this example the single payload 534 encodes the entire dataset 535,but that is not required, as mentioned earlier.

In this example, the dataset 535 has been received because it is desiredto determine any tax obligations arising from the buy-sell transaction597. As such, the sample received dataset 535 has values thatcharacterize attributes of the buy-sell transaction 597, as indicated byan arrow 599. (It should be noted that the arrow 599 describes acorrespondence, but not the journey of the data of the buy-selltransaction 597 in becoming the received dataset 535.) Accordingly, inthis example the sample received dataset 535 has a value ID for anidentity of the dataset 535 and/or the transaction 597. The dataset 535also has a value PE for the name of the seller 593 or the user 592,which can be the seller making sales transactions, some online. Thedataset 535 further has a value PD for relevant data of the seller 593or the user 592, such as an address, place(s) of business, prior nexusdeterminations with various tax jurisdictions, and so on. The dataset535 also has a value SE for the name of the secondary entity 596, whichcan be the buyer. The dataset 535 further has a value SD for relevantdata of the secondary entity 596, entity-driven exemption status, and soon. The dataset 535 has a value B2 for the sale price of the item sold.Any of such data from dataset 535 may comprise seller data 545.

The dataset 535 further has a value RS that includes a unique identifierthat contains or identifies information identifying or regarding arevenue source system for revenue received for transaction 597 and thelocation(s) of one or more properties being rented on the system. Thedataset 535 may have fewer values or have additional values, asindicated by the dot-dot-dot in the dataset 535. These values maycharacterize further attributes, such as characteristics of dataidentifying of or otherwise relating to a license or registrationrequired for the transaction, a date and possibly also time of thetransaction 597, and so on.

The digital tax and data tracking rules 570 have been created so as toaccommodate tax rules that the set 580 of different tax authorities 581,582 ... promulgate within the boundaries of their tax jurisdictions andto indicate when and how to electronically tag seller data, such that itmay be more efficiently found in subsequent searches. In FIG. 5 , fivesample digital tax and data tracking rules are shown, namely T_RULE2572, T_RULE3 573, T_RULE5 575, T_RULE6 576 and T_RULE7 577. Additionaldigital tax and data tracking rules 570 are suggested by the verticaldot-dot-dots. Similarly with FIG. 1 , some of these digital tax rulesmay be digital main rules that determine the tax obligation 579, whileothers can be digital precedence rules that determine which of thedigital main rules is to be applied in the event of conflict. In someuse cases, digital main rules may be about a sales tax or use tax beingowed due to the transaction 597 at a certain percentage of the purchaseprice. Digital precedence rules may be digital tax rules that determinewhether particular digital tax rules are to be applied for origin-basedor destination-based jurisdictions, how to override for diversetaxability of individual items, for temporary tax holidays, forexemptions from having to pay sales tax based on who the buyer is, andalso based on nexus, and so on. In the present example, digitalprecedence rules may be digital tax or data tracking rules thatdetermine whether particular digital tax or data tracking rules are tobe applied, or particular data is to be electronically tagged.

Similarly with FIG. 1 , these digital tax and data tracking rules 570can be implemented or organized in different ways. In some use casesthey can be organized with conditions and consequents, such as wasdescribed earlier in this document. Such conditions may relate togeographical boundaries, sources of revenue, effective dates, and so on,for determining where and when a digital tax rule or tax rate is to beapplied. These conditions may be expressed as logical conditions withranges, dates, other data, and so on. Values of the dataset 535 can beiteratively tested against these logical conditions according to arrows571. In such cases, the consequents may indicate one or more taxobligations, such as to indicate different types of taxes that are due,rules, rates, exemption requirements, reporting requirements, remittancerequirements, etc.

In this example, a certain digital tax rule T_RULE6 576 is shown asidentified and used, which is indicated also by the beginning of anarrow 578. Identifying may be performed responsive to the values of thedataset 535, which are shown as considered for digital tax and datatracking rules 570 by arrows 571. For example, it can be recognized thata condition of the digital tax rule T_RULE6 576 is met by one or more ofthe values of the dataset 535. As such, the computer system 595 mayproduce the tax obligation 579 and tax return document, which is akin toproducing the resource 179 of FIG. 1 . The computer system 595 may alsofile or otherwise send (or cause to be filed or sent) the tax returndocument to one or more of the applicable tax authorities in the set oftax authorities 580 via network 188. The tax obligation 579 can beproduced by the computer system 595 applying the certain digital taxrule T_RULE6 576, as indicated by the arrow 578. In this example, theconsequent of the identified certain digital tax rule T_RULE6 576 mayspecify that a tax is due, the amount is to be determined by amultiplication of the sale price of the value B2 by a specific rate, thetax return form that needs to be prepared and filed, a date by which itneeds to be filed, and so on.

The computer system 595 may then cause a notification 536 to betransmitted. The notification 536 can be about an aspect of the taxobligation 579, similarly with the notification 136 of FIG. 1 . In theexample of FIG. 5 , the notification 536 is caused to be transmitted bythe computer system 595 as an answer to the received dataset 535. Thenotification 536 can be about an aspect of the tax obligation 579. Inparticular, the notification 536 may inform about the aspect of the taxobligation 579, namely that it has been determined, where it can befound, what it is, or at least a portion or a statistic of its content,and so on.

The notification 536 can be transmitted to one of an output device andanother device that can be the remote device, from which the dataset 535was received. The output device may be the screen of a local user or aremote user. The notification 536 may thus cause a desired image toappear on the screen, such as within a Graphical User Interface (GUI)and so on. The other device may be a remote device, as in this example.In particular, the computer system 595 causes the notification 536 to becommunicated by being encoded as a payload 537, which is carried by aresponse 587. The response 587 may be transmitted via the network 188responsive to the received request 584. The response 587 may betransmitted to the computer system 590, intermediary entity 560 or toOPF 589, and so on. As such, the other device can be the computer system590, or a device of the OPF 589, or the screen 591 of the user 592, andso on. In this example the single payload 537 encodes the entirenotification 536, but that is not required, similarly with what iswritten above about encoding datasets in payloads. Along with the aspectof the tax obligation 579, it is advantageous to embed in the payload537 the ID value and/or one or more values of the dataset 535. This willhelp the recipient correlate the response 587 to the request 584, andtherefore match the received aspect of the tax obligation 579 as theanswer to the received dataset 535.

Also, in this example, it may occur that the seller 593 provides certaindata that comprises or is part of the dataset 535 which the seller 193at some point may request the OSP 598 to delete or modify (e.g.,financial or personal data of the seller 593 related to or resultingfrom the tax and data tracking engine 583 performing the digital taxservices for seller 593). In order to more efficiently fulfill theelectronic request to delete or modify all of such data associated withor provided by seller 593, in various embodiments, the OSP 598 mayelectronically track such data via electronically tagging such data itreceives, and causing that tag (e.g., tag 549) to automatically followsuch data whenever it is electronically copied or modified. For example,in one embodiment, the OSP 598 may electronically associate the receivedseller data 545 with the seller 593. The OSP 598 then applies 541 one ormore of the digital tax and data tracking rules 570 to electronicallytag 548 the received seller data 545 with an electronic tag 549 uniquelyassociated with the seller 593, including an identifier uniquelyassociated with the seller 193. The OSP 598 then electronically storesthe received seller data 545 as tagged data 542, such that the receivedseller data 545 is identifiable via the electronic tag 549. In responseto the seller data 545 being copied due to a copy operation 544 intoanother database or document, the OSP 598 may then apply 572 one or moreof the digital tax and data tracking rules 570 to electronically tag 573with the electronic tag 549 the copied seller data 546 associated withthe seller 193 resulting from the copy operation 544 performed on thestored received seller data 545, such that the copied seller data 546associated with the seller 593 resulting from the copy operation 544performed on the stored received seller data 545 is also identifiablevia the electronic tag 549. The OSP 598 then electronically stores thetagged copied seller data 543 associated with the seller 593 resultingfrom the copy operation 544 performed on the stored received seller data545 such that the copied seller data 546 associated with the seller 593resulting from the copy operation 544 performed on the stored receivedseller data 545 is also identifiable via the electronic tag 549.

When and how to perform such tagging may be indicated by and performedaccording to one or more digital tax and data tracking rules 570 storedby or otherwise accessible by the OSP 598. For example, the automaticelectronic tagging of the seller data 545 may be performed upon receiptof the seller data 545 from the seller 593 via dataset 535 according oneor more digital tax and data tracking rules 570. In one embodiment, thecondition indicated by one of the digital tax and data tracking rules570 for tagging the seller data 545 with electronic tag 549 associatedwith seller 593 is that the seller data 545 must be received from seller593, as indicated by the dataset 535 and/or the request 584. Also, acondition indicated by one of the seller data 545 for tagging the copiedseller data 546 with electronic tag 549 associated with seller 593 isthat the copy operation 544 is an action performed on data tagged withelectronic tag 549 associated with seller 593.

FIG. 6 is a sample view of a User Interface (UI) 600 for OSP 549 inwhich a tax service customer, such as seller 549 may request deletion ofall their data from the OSP 549 in a use case of an embodiment accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure, and is an improvementin automated computerized systems. In the present example, the user 592has selected a selectable UI element (a check box) to indicate theseller 549 would like to delete all of their data from the OSP 549. Theuser 592 may then select a submit button 602 displayed on the UI 600 toinitiate the action to delete all of the seller’s data from the OSP 549.In some embodiments, the OSP 549 may then identify the electronic tagused to tag the sellers data in the OSP 549 present another UI screen inresponse to the user selecting the submit button 602, that displays someor all of the data tagged with the electronic tag, asking the user 592,“is this the data you meant?” When the user confirms it, then the OSP549 knows the unique tag with the identifier related to that data, andcombs through all of the OSP 549 systems looking for any piece of datathat was tagged with that electronic tag in order to delete it.

FIG. 7 is a sample view of a UI 700 for the OSP 598 in which aconfirmation is displayed indicating deletion of all the seller’s datafrom the OSP 598 has been performed in a use case of an embodimentaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure, and is animprovement in automated computerized systems. In the present example,the UI 700 displays a list of all the databases and documents from whichyour data has been deleted, including: 1. Tax records database A 2. Taxreturn documents X, Y and Z 3. Tax service customer database B and 4.E-mail and electronic communications database C. The user 592 may selectan OK button 702 to accept the confirmation. In some embodiments, theinformation displayed in UI 700 may be communicated in a notification,similar to how notification 536 is generated and transmitted.

The embodiments described above may also use synchronous or asynchronousclient-server computing techniques, including software as a service(SaaS) techniques. However, the various components may be implementedusing more monolithic programming techniques as well, for example, as anexecutable running on a single CPU computer system, or alternativelydecomposed using a variety of structuring techniques known in the art,including but not limited to, multiprogramming, multithreading,client-server, or peer-to-peer, running on one or more computer systemseach having one or more CPUs. Some embodiments may execute concurrentlyand asynchronously, and communicate using message passing techniques.Equivalent synchronous embodiments are also supported. Also, otherfunctions could be implemented and/or performed by eachcomponent/module, and in different orders, and by differentcomponents/modules, yet still achieve the functions of the systems andmethods described herein.

In addition, programming interfaces to the data stored as part of thesystem controller 210 and other system components described herein maybe available by mechanisms such as through C, C++, C#, and Java APIs;libraries for accessing files, databases, or other data repositories;through scripting languages such as JavaScript and VBScript; or throughWeb servers, FTP servers, or other types of servers providing access tostored data. The databases described herein and other system componentsmay be implemented by using one or more database systems, file systems,or any other technique for storing such information, or any combinationof the above, including implementations using distributed computingtechniques.

Different configurations and locations of programs and data arecontemplated for use with techniques described herein. A variety ofdistributed computing techniques are appropriate for implementing thecomponents of the embodiments in a distributed manner including but notlimited to TCP/IP sockets, RPC, RMI, HTTP, Web Services (XML-RPC,JAX-RPC, SOAP, and the like). Other variations are possible. Also, otherfunctionality may be provided by each component/module, or existingfunctionality could be distributed amongst the components/modules indifferent ways, yet still achieve the functions described herein.

Where a phrase similar to “at least one of A, B, or C,” “at least one ofA, B, and C,” “one or more A, B, or C,” or “one or more of A, B, and C”is used, it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that Aalone may be present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in anembodiment, C alone may be present in an embodiment, or that anycombination of the elements A, B and C may be present in a singleembodiment; for example, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, particular operations are illustrated in acontext of specific illustrative configurations. Other allocations offunctionality are envisioned and may fall within a scope of variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In general, structures andfunctionality presented as separate resources in the exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or resource.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single resourcemay be implemented as separate resources. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within a scope ofembodiments of the present disclosure as represented by the appendedclaims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regardedin an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. These and other changes can be made to theembodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, inthe following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limitthe claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specificationand the claims, but should be construed to include all possibleembodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which suchclaims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by thedisclosure.

1. A system, including: at least one processor; and a memory coupled tothe at least one processor, the memory storing instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the system to performoperations including: an online software platform (OSP) electronicallyreceiving a first data; electronically associating the received firstdata with an entity; electronically tagging the received first data withan electronic tag uniquely associated with the entity including anidentifier uniquely associated with the entity; electronically storingthe received first data such that the received first data isidentifiable via the electronic tag; electronically tagging with theelectronic tag a second data associated with the entity resulting froman action performed on the stored received first data such that thesecond data associated with the entity resulting from the actionperformed on the stored received first data is also identifiable via theelectronic tag; and electronically storing the tagged second dataassociated with the entity resulting from the action performed on thestored received first data such that the second data associated with theentity resulting from the action performed on the stored received firstdata is also identifiable via the electronic tag.
 2. The system of claim1 in which the instructions, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, further cause the system to perform operations including:electronically receiving a request regarding all data associated withthe entity that is stored by the OSP; in response to receiving therequest, electronically searching, using the electronic tag, for alldata associated with the entity that is stored by the OSP;electronically identifying, based on the searching, all data stored bythe OSP that is tagged with the electronic tag uniquely associated withthe entity; electronically performing an action indicated by the requestregarding all the data stored by the OSP that is tagged with theelectronic tag uniquely associated with the entity.
 3. The system ofclaim 2 in which the action indicated by the request is electronicdeletion of all the data stored by the OSP that is associated with theentity.
 4. The system of claim 2 in which the action indicated by therequest is electronically sending a report regarding all the data storedby the OSP that is associated with the entity.
 5. The system of claim 1in which the electronically tagging with the electronic tag the seconddata associated with the entity resulting from an action performed onthe stored received first data includes: copying the electronic tagalong with the stored received first data, or any piece of the storedreceived first data identified as unique to the entity, whenever thestored received first data, or any piece of the stored received firstdata identified as unique to the entity, is moved or copied to adifferent database or electronic document than in which the storedreceived first data was originally stored, according to a first digitalrule.
 6. The system of claim 5 in which the electronically tagging withthe electronic tag the second data associated with the entity resultingfrom an action performed on the stored received first data includes:copying the tag along with the stored received first data, or any pieceof the stored received first data identified as unique to the entity,whenever the stored received first data, or any piece of the storedreceived first data identified as unique to the entity, is modified andthen moved or copied to a different database or electronic document thanin which the stored received first data was originally stored, accordingto a second digital rule.
 7. The system of claim 6 in which theelectronically tagging with the electronic tag the second dataassociated with the entity resulting from an action performed on thestored received first data includes: maintaining the electronic tag asassociated with the stored received first data, or any piece of thestored received first data identified as unique to the entity, wheneverthe stored received first data, or any piece of the stored receivedfirst data identified as unique to the entity, is modified, according toa third digital rule.
 8. The system of claim 7 in which each piece ofthe stored received first data identified as unique to the entity isidentified as unique to the entity via the electronic tag also beingassociated, according to a fourth digital rule, with the piece of thestored received first data identified as unique to the entity.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1 in which the electronically tagging with theelectronic tag second data associated with the entity resulting from anaction performed on the stored received first data includes:electronically tagging with the electronic tag the second dataassociated with the entity resulting from an action performed on thestored received first data, according to one or more digital rules. 10.The system of claim 1 in which the action performed on the storedreceived first data includes copying, moving or modifying the storedreceived first data.
 11. The system of claim 1 in which: theelectronically tagging the received data includes electronicallyrecording an association of the electronic tag with the received data asa transaction on a blockchain, the transaction on the blockchainassociated with the electronic tag and with the received data; and theelectronically tagging with the electronic tag the second dataassociated with the entity resulting from an action performed on thestored received first data includes electronically recording the actionperformed on the stored received first data as an additional transactionon the blockchain, the additional transaction on the block chainassociated with the electronic tag and with the second data associatedwith the entity resulting from the action performed on the storedreceived first data.
 12. The system of claim 8 in which the storedreceived first data includes one or more of: an electronic documentassociated with the entity; one or more content items associated withthe entity; a category of data associated with the entity; a datasetassociated with the entity; a collection of data associated with theentity; a name of the entity; an address of the entity; sales data ofthe entity; a location of the entity; a social security number of theentity; a tax identifier of the entity; identifying number or code ofthe entity; a telephone number of the entity, an email address of theentity; contact information for the entity; business data of the entity;user name of the entity; login credentials of the entity; electronicdocuments of the entity; financial information of the entity; personalinformation of the entity; confidential information of the entity andpersonal identifiable information of the entity. 13-36. (canceled)